Drawing assignment

I don't think I've mentioned before, but I'm enrolled as a student of the Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis - this was the school that trained Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon. It's a distance education course where you work from home at your own speed and mail in the finished assignments for grading. I'm just finishing up my "Drawing Objects" lesson, and the final assignment is to draw a sight-size (it's the same size on the paper as it appears to the eye) shoe. This is all set up on my studio table, so until I finish it, it's the ONLY thing I'm able to work on - don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Here's some photos of the setup, the shoe, and my progress on the drawing. It's still far from complete.

The difficulty with drawing from life rather than photos is that each eye sees a slightly different image. For instance, the dark inside part behind the main strap isn't visible in the photo since it was taken from my right eye perspective.  When I had the camera lined up to my left eye perspective, the toe straps took on a completely different arrangement than what I'd drawn. It's a challenge to combine these two images.

A special discount for my faithful blog readers! :)

Use blog5 as your coupon code during checkout for either my ArtFire or Etsy shops (links can be found above and at the right) and receive a discount on your purchase just for reading my blog! Enjoy! :)

Inspiration in my own back yard!

I'm very excited about the new view from my yard:

Meet Sawyer (aka Sawyer Brown SDA), my 3/4 Arabian 1/4 Quarter Horse gelding.

Since I moved out on my own five years ago, he's been living at my parents' place with their horses, and Tuesday, I finally got to bring him home!

He's still pretty skittish about the new place, and he's never been all alone before, so forgive the far off views. I didn't want to make him any more nervous with the camera.

He's been pacing the fence for two days, but now I think he's finally starting to get comfortable:



I'm so excited he's finally here, but I wish the weather was warmer 'cause I'm itching to sit out there and sketch him!

A new feature

Feature

Thanks to Emma of  Silverlight Jewellery for this beautiful feature story!

Art & craft sale finds

Yesterday, I went with my family to a local craft show and also to a smaller art show. The craft show I displayed at last year and debated doing it again this year as it was mildly successful, but in the end decided against it. It's more fun to attend as a shopper. Here's what I found:

Unlighted:

Lighted:

It's a beautiful fused glass (I think) tart burner. I've always been a pyromaniac and swore I'd never give up the flames in my candles, but this is GORGEOUS! I got a pack of cedarwood-vanilla scented tarts too.

At the art show, I talked to many wonderful artists. The one that stood out the most for me was Anndell of AW Design & Photography. She had some incredible panoramic photos, one made up of 35 individual photos! I bought this photo from her for my (someday) John Deere themed dining room:

Andell Wubben

AW Design & Photography

I also met this artist who had some beautiful work as well.

This is one show I'd like to display at next year. Everyone was so friendly, and I had a great time!

I also mentioned a few days ago that it was my birthday, and this is the beautiful print that my parents bought for me:

Caballero - Mona Majorowicz

Wild Faces Gallery

I've seen her work a couple times at a show, and everything is beautiful!



Seeing all these incredible artists this weekend makes me itch to draw. Unfortunately, it's back to the desk job grind tomorrow.

It's my birthday, and I'm giving out gifts!

In honor of my birthday today (11/11), I've marked everything 11% off in my ArtFire shop. The same deal also applies to my Etsy shop, but that will have to be refunded through PayPal.

In addition, for every $10 spent, you will receive one notecard with envelope - specify which design(s) you'd like or they will be chosen at random.

This offer is today only, so don't miss out!

Stripes!

I've been toying with the idea of departing from my typical western/country themed art. Here's what's tickling my fancy at the moment:

Source

He seems like he needs something more than just the face shot, but I can't decide what. I was thinking maybe putting a fancy horse bridle on him, but I don't know if I want to go that quirky. I'll have to stew about him a little longer. :)